Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is an irregular and rapid heart rate often that often results in cardiovascular diseases. Both men and women are at risk of cardiovascular disease catalyzed by AF, but whether there is any gender-related difference is unclear. This study aims to evaluate the risk of AF-related cardiovascular disease and death in men vs. women.
This meta-analysis included 30 cohort studies with a minimum of 50 participants without AF who reported sex-specific AF and all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, stroke, and other cardiac events. The primary outcome of the study was sex-specific cardiovascular outcomes.
A total of 30 studies and 4,371,714 participants were included in this analysis. The findings suggested that AF was associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality in women compared with men (relative risk 1.12). Women were also found to be at a higher risk of stroke (1.99), cardiovascular mortality (1.93), cardiac events (1.55), and heart failure (1.15). The results were consistent, and the evidence found by the researchers was of high-quality.
The research concluded that AF was associated with a significantly stronger risk of cardiovascular death and other cardiac outcomes in women as compared with men.
Ref: https://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.h7013
